The Kraken added size and grit when they brought winger Mason Marchment on board via trade on Thursday.
They acquired the 6-foot-5, 215-pound, 30-year-old left wing from the Dallas Stars for a 4th-round NHL Draft pick in 2025 and a 3rd-rounder in 2026.
Dallas general manager Jim Nill is a bit desperate to unload some money after signing veteran center Matt Duchene to a four-year extension for $4.5-million per season for the next four, and with six unrestricted free agents to think about including captain Jamie Benn.
$4.5-million is exactly what the Kraken will be paying Marchment for one season before he becomes a UFA. One would think they’d try to sign him to an extension as soon as possible in July, to avoid this becoming a one-and-done for what will be a 30-plus-year-old free agent who will hopefully have an impact on establishing a tougher team identity.
And while on that subject …
Marchment has “nasty” in his bloodlines. His father, the late Bryan Marchment, was considered one of the dirtiest players of the modern NHL era, picking up 13 suspensions along the way for multiple knee-on-knee collisions, hits to the head, and other infractions of that ilk. And that’s back when it was a lot tougher to get suspended.
Bryan played close to a thousand NHL games and piled up 2,307 penalty minutes, unheard of numbers in this day and age.
His son has a healthy 258 in his 302-game NHL career.
After playing for three different Ontario Hockey League teams and going undrafted into the NHL, Mason was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2016. He helped the 2018 American Hockey League Marlies win a Calder Cup two years later.
It’s been a slow road, but Marchment has improved every year. He posted 22 goals in each of the last two seasons, but last year the offense came in just 62 games compared to 81 games played in 2023-’24.
In 2024-’25 Marchment missed a slew of games after taking a deflected slapshot to the face in Dallas in late December.
The Kraken need to add physical forces. Part of developing a team identity in the NHL is being “tough to play against.”
That wouldn’t describe Seattle up until now. Marchment should be a step in the right direction.
